Chapter 52: Changing the Subject
The problem was that Adele, for some reason, was still pretending to be asleep. Jasmine was a bit baffled, not knowing what to do. Should she expose Adele’s act or pretend not to notice and leave?
After considering her options, she decided that the latter was safer. She would let this awkwardness pass. After all, there would be countless similar situations in the future. Until they left the farm and finished their practical training for the semester, Jasmine would have to sneak into Adele’s room to shower.
Jasmine decided to pretend she hadn’t noticed Adele was awake and was about to leave the room. But Adele clearly wasn’t on the same wavelength. Just as Jasmine decided to leave, Adele threw off the covers and sat up in bed. Her crimson eyes were striking in the darkness. She ignited a small flame at her fingertips, illuminating the room.
—There’s no escape now.
Jasmine realized this.
Adele finally got a clear look at Jasmine. In her memory, Jasmine always wore a neat and proper maid uniform. She had never seen her like this before.
Jasmine, having just showered, was wearing a thin nightgown that clung to her delicate frame, making her look particularly endearing.
Her slightly curly, shoulder-length hair was now straighter and seemingly longer after being washed and dampened. It hung down to her shoulders, making her look even more innocent than usual. The flickering firelight danced in her eyes, making them resemble those of a fawn.
Adele was so stunned that the flame in her hand extinguished. She stammered, “Y-you… you…” She pointed at Jasmine, her face flushing pink.
“Why are you dressed like this in my room while I’m sleeping?!”
“…”
Seriously? You knew when I came in, and you listened to my entire shower. Miss, you clearly know that I was properly dressed when I arrived. But Adele’s implication was that Jasmine had deliberately come to seduce her.
Well, in the young miss’s mind, Jasmine liked her, so it wasn’t entirely illogical that she would try to seduce Adele early in the morning.
“Let me explain.” Jasmine had barely uttered these words when Adele covered her eyes, as if to avoid seeing something indecent.
But the thing was, there was nothing indecent about Jasmine’s attire.
She was wearing a white camisole nightgown. It sounded alluring, but Jasmine’s chest was really not big. If categorized by her previous life’s standards, she would be a B-cup, barely able to fit into an A-cup bra. This was the reason her plan to become a busty, cool, and mature woman had failed. So, even if she didn’t want to admit it, Jasmine had to face reality. Her figure was simply the innocent type.
Adele, on the other hand, was… well-endowed. In a couple of years, when her face matured, she would definitely become the mature woman Jasmine envisioned. And she was also only wearing a lacy camisole nightgown. In the dim light, Jasmine could even see the outline of her cleavage. In this situation, she should be covering her chest, not her eyes.
“No need to explain!” Adele was lost in her own thoughts, refusing to listen to Jasmine. “Even… even if you do this, nothing will happen between us! Besides, besides, we’ve only just come of age. What you’re doing is wrong!”
Her words weren’t wrong, but they sounded strange.
Jasmine didn’t want to give Adele the opportunity to spout nonsense, so she said directly, “There’s no bathroom in my room, so I had to come to yours to shower. If you don’t want me to shower here, then I’ll have to use another maid’s bathroom. Or… maybe after Oakham’s room is cleaned up, I can use his?”
How could Adele allow such a thing? She considered Jasmine her possession. She had even taken the little girl out of Jasmine’s arms because she couldn’t stand seeing someone else touch her. So, how could she possibly let Jasmine shower in someone else’s bathroom? If that happened, wouldn’t it mean that someone else would hear Jasmine showering and see her walking out in her
“No way!” Adele rejected Jasmine’s suggestion without hesitation. She lowered her hand from her eyes, looking conflicted. “Fine, you can seduce me.”
—Once again, she, Jasmine, Lady Dawn, was not seducing anyone!
Before Jasmine could protest, she heard Adele’s voice, barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz, “Only someone as noble as me can resist temptation. If anyone else were in my position, Jasmine would have nowhere to cry if something happened.”
Jasmine was speechless. She decided to bring a robe next time she came to shower, so Adele wouldn’t see her bare shoulders. She thanked Adele for letting her use the bathroom and then quickly left. After she was gone, Adele realized that she had been tricked by Jasmine.
Adele felt annoyed. Jasmine was truly a cunning person, easily changing the subject. She sat on the bed, wanting to roll around, but she desperately suppressed her unladylike urge. Then she thought of how Jasmine had looked just now.
Vampires had excellent night vision, no different from daytime vision. She had seen Jasmine clearly. Jasmine’s skin wasn’t as fair as hers, with a yellowish tone like that of other ethnicities, but Adele found it pleasing to the eye.
Especially since Jasmine had just showered, her body still slightly damp, her face flushed and rosy, like a freshly peeled egg. Adele had never eaten an egg, but she had seen Jasmine eat them, and the egg white looked just like that after being peeled.
Adele finally came to a conclusion: Jasmine was trying to seduce her!
This thought kept Adele awake. She tossed and turned in bed for a long time before finally falling asleep. When she woke up again, it was already dark. She heard the sound of Jasmine boiling water in the living room. Adele, sleep-deprived, yawned and got out of bed.
She changed her clothes, taking off her nightgown and putting on a black dress. She styled her hair and tied it with a ribbon. It wasn’t a complicated hairstyle, something Adele could do herself. Among vampire young ladies, she was definitely the most independent.
As she stepped out of her room, she saw that Jasmine had already brewed tea, adding several sugar cubes made from artificial blood. Adele sat on the sofa, and Jasmine placed the teacup before her. Adele picked up the cup, holding it gracefully, and gently blew on the reddish-brown liquid. The refreshing aroma of tea filled her nostrils.
It smelled wonderful. The black tea provided by the Blake family was of excellent quality, and Jasmine was skilled at brewing it. Combined with the tasteless artificial blood sugar cubes, this cup of tea was Adele’s favorite drink.
She took a sip, the sweetness and tea flavor filling her mouth. The artificial blood also provided her with the energy vampires needed. Although the energy wasn’t pure and the amount wasn’t large, it was still a good supplement for Adele, who was chronically lacking blood.
Thinking of this, Adele couldn’t help but look at Jasmine as she sipped her tea. Speaking of good supplements, Jasmine’s blood was the best.
After the incident with the doctor, although Adele had been unconscious, the feeling of satiety she had felt upon waking up was real. Her stomach had been full for several days, and she hadn’t even needed to consume artificial blood.
If only she could drink Jasmine’s blood again…
Adele put down her teacup and asked Jasmine, “Jasmine, can I drink your blood?”
The maid turned to look at her, her expression impassive. She calmly rejected Adele, “No.”
Although she had expected Jasmine to refuse, Adele still couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Her expression even showed a hint of feigned sadness, “Why not? Why can’t I? I was so uncomfortable yesterday, and I still can’t have any today…”
“Speaking of which, the manor servants seem to be waiting for you, Miss. They’re a bit lost without their master.” Hearing this, Adele realized that she had work to do. She quickly finished her tea, accidentally burning her tongue in the process.
She stuck out her tongue and fanned it with her hand, then quickly got up and headed to the hall to meet the servants. Jasmine didn’t follow her because she still had to clean Adele’s room. Adele actually wanted to take Jasmine with her, but that would mean entrusting her clothes and room to someone else.
Adele thought about it. Between having someone else touch her belongings and temporarily being apart from Jasmine, she could only choose the latter.
“Jasmine, come over quickly after you’re done.”
“I understand, Miss.”
Adele hurried off, wrinkling her nose, trying to locate the servants. She had braced herself for the stench of blood, but to her surprise, the smell in the manor had lessened considerably, becoming barely tolerable.
Adele was surprised. When she reached the hall, she saw the manor servants standing in neat rows, bowing in unison as she approached. Adele raised her hand, stopping them, “There’s no need to bow every time you see me. Just a nod will suffice. Wasting so much time bowing is inefficient.”
She walked up the stairs, stood before the servants, and looked at Bella. Before she could speak, Bella started reporting what had happened during the day and presented the cloth containing the ashes, “Miss Blake, these are Oakham’s ashes.”
No matter what they were like in life, whether low-ranking or noble, all vampires turned into the same ashes after death. Like… the grayish-black residue left after burning paper. Adele examined the ashes and nodded, then appointed Bella as the new head maid. To establish Bella’s authority, she even emphasized, “If anyone objects, speak now.”
The servants all lowered their heads, remaining silent.
Adele nodded in satisfaction. For some reason, she suddenly thought: Had she been tricked by Jasmine again back in the room?
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